Our Warriors Need Your Help
 Both those in or deploying soon to Afghanistan as well as Iraq.
Please remember and honor them every day.
With your help, we've sent over 51,000 helmet pad upgrade kits to our Heroes
 

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We are at a crisis level of funding because of all the requests. We  need your help ($$$) to keep on sending the helmet pad upgrades.
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 Online Donations  | US Mail  |  Stock Donations  |  Vendor Donations In Kind

When the military agreed to take over our job of putting shock-absorbing pads in their troops' helmets, they decided to buy the cheapest they could find. That leaves some critical jobs being filled with troops whose helmets don't fit just right, and give them a pounding headache.

We will cease operations only when we are no longer needed, transferring any residual funds to charities helping our wounded troops and their families. Right now (April, 2009), that seems far away, as the Army has decided to keep on purchasing and distributing cheaper, harder helmet pads. We're still slugging it out with the powers that be to change hearts and minds. If ONE soldier is killed or maimed because they took off their helmet even momentarily to relieve a headache and got caught in an IED blast or other ambush, shame forever on the Army. Sadly, the other military Services now depend on the Army to tell them what kind of pads should be in their warrior's helmets. Sad case of the Obstinate leading the Uninformed.

So, in addition to the usual men and women who 'fall through the cracks' and don't have any type of upgrade, we respond when we're able to those whose combat duties would be helped by using the top-of-the-line pads we buy with your help.
 
Donate through the US Mail   Click here for a form that you fill out and mail in with your check or money order. Or, just send a note with the check. 

We have changed our policy on thank-you letters due to the large amount of mail we're getting and the cost in stamps as well as time to answer...enough for a helmet upgrade every 2 weeks! The IRS only requires a confirmation of donation letter if the amount is $250 or greater, so other donations will be acknowledged by email if it's on the form, otherwise in our prayers. Your cancelled check is proof of donation. PS: Sometimes I can't read the return address or mis-type it and the letter comes back. I'm sorry, and if you need another, please email or write me and I'll resend. If you include an email address with mailed checks, we can send a thank-you regardless of the amount...doesn't cost anything!

Operation Helmet, Inc. is a 501-c-3 public charity, EIN 20-1756585. Make out your check to Operation Helmet and send to: 

Operation Helmet
c/o Dr Bob Meaders
74 Greenview Street
Montgomery, TX 77356

Note 1: We do NOT sell or exchange our private donor's list.

Note 2:  What is the price per upgrade?

Note 3: Donation to a single individual may not be tax deductible.  Please check with your tax advisor or the IRS publication for more information.

We pay $34 per upgrade for helmet pad upgrade kits for most all service members using the Army-style ACH or Marine LWH.  $56 for older PASGT helmets. which are less frequently used. [more].

 

Donate via on-line credit card or PayPal;  fill out the next two fields and click on the donate button below.   You will have the opportunity to add comments in the third step.  Also, if you do not have a PayPal account, there is a button to press for credit card donations in the next step.

Just ignore the 'quantity' and donate what you care to...trying to fix that fool button.

Please use this donation for the following individual, unit, base, or service.  Leave blank for any service member.
Ship to Address of the military member (if applicable)

Note: New price schedule, thanks to a major reduction in our cost

Our cost is $34.00 per upgrade for all Service branches except those who still use the older PASGT helmet. That upgrade kit costs us $56.00. This price change represents a 40% savings over retail price. Thanks, Oregon Aero. Now, let's hope other manufacturers follow the recommendations of the Army testing lab and adjust their pad sets for comfort as well as protection. Until then, we're still urging them to do so while providing the helmet pad upgrades our troops need and ask for.

 

Checks are preferred, as PayPal takes a bite of about 3% for service fees.

If you are sending a kit to a deployed service member, here is what the address should look like:

Sgt William V EXXXX                       
2/2 E Co (1st Platoon)
Unit 73070
FPO, AE 09509-3070
 

or Sgt William V EXXXX, 2/2 E Co (1st Platoon), Unit 73070, FPO, AE 09509-3070 United States

Click here to see a sample list of previous Donors who have agreed to be represented.

If you are vendor who would like to donate T-shirts, button, pins, bumper stickers, commemorative coins, or other items, please contact Mark Meaders mark at operation-helmet.org

Our distribution is through troops in the field who are knowledgeable about the needs of various units deployed or to individual warriors or units for whom specific donations are received. All donations so specified are sent to the individual troop, unit, or service branch. Donations intended for a specific unit MUST have a name attached, as units will not accept 'to anybody' packages.

Any amount is appreciated. As the old saying goes, it's better to light one candle than to curse the dark. And a bunch of small candles equal a whole lotta light!  Together, we can save lives. Families or friends of troopers are encouraged to donate what they can afford. If you can afford to pitch in few bucks when donating for a family member's helmet upgrade, there's a number of troops with NO family support who also need help. Donations are not required, we send upgrade kits to troops as long as our funds hold out.

If you would like a helmet demonstration, drop us a line.  We can easily do this in Houston, Philadelphia, and Washington DC, or a few select locations around the country.

We send these kits to YOUR trooper's unit as funds are available if you provide us their address: Stateside or APO/FPO with the priority on those deployed in danger zones and those that need the financial help.  Please feel free to approach friends, neighbors, business, churches, schools, service clubs, etc. to help us with funding. We've been besieged with requests due to recent deployments and have a large backlog of need. 100% of donated funds go to purchase and ship the upgrades. There are NO employee/admin costs deducted. We are a purely volunteer-driven organization and depend on help from other troop supporters, as well as our own efforts, to raise funds.

The life you save may save another!

Operation Helmet is a 501-c-3 organization (EIN 20-1756585) that a generous donor lawyer set up to handle purchasing of blast- protective upgrade kits.

You can verify our status as a 501-c-3 organization at the IRS verification website, http://apps.irs.gov/app/pub78.  Just enter Operation Helmet in the name section and Montgomery and Texas and USA in the location section and it pops up with verified. We are 100% volunteer, with no salaries or expenses (Doc Bob pays that).

For tax implications, please see www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p526.pdf

 
Send mail to ophelm at operationhelmet.org with questions or comments about Operation Helmet.
Copyright © 2010 Operation Helmet
Last modified: 07/23/10